Alexis Vermilion
This is where my blurb of info should go. :|a __TOC__ Appearance Standing before you is obviously a woman, standing at somewhere near the six foot range. She looks rather light at a glance and has a rather atheltic looking figure. Her hair is long, reaching down her back to just above her waist and a pale white. A pair of bangs adorn each of her shoulders, reaching down to just below her chest and the hair above her eyes is swept off to the left to stay out of her eyes. You notice that her eyes are a piercing emerald green, but missing the color of 'life' in them. Her skintone has more color to it than her hair, being a healthy white. Her lips are somewhat thin and remain their natural color with the lack of makeup on her face. The general 'look' on her face is that of indifference. The face she seems to give most people. What she currently wears is simple yet ornate at the same time. Lightweight yet durable. Around her torso is a simple breastplate, white in color that leaves her shoulders bare. Beneath the armor is a black tanktop that reaches up to cover her neck and provides cushion for the armor against her skin. Around the neckline of the armor is an intricate design, possibly protective magical glyphs. While her shoulders are bare, her arms from her biceps down are covered in armor. Thick plated gauntlets protect her hands and arms. The primary color is all white with similar black inscription scatttered over most visible surfaces. Beneath the armor is another cushioning layer of black sleeve and wrapped around the armor itself is a strip of black leather with white inscriptions along its surface. The guantlets appear to be made for hand to hand combat. They allow for ample movement but high defense with the plating. The breastplate protects her entire stomach but vanishes beneath the pair of leather belt-like straps around her waist, criss-crossing one another. It's safe to say that all of her armor bears the tell-tale inscriptions on it. A black sash is loosely wrapped around her midsection, the leftovers dangling down over her left leg to about her thigh. Around her waist is a white skirt, thick enough to survive combat that reaches down to her ankles. It bears black decor in the form of a sword resembling a cross at the front and sides and the back. The black inscriptions adorning the trim of each section of the skirt. Beneath the skirt is leg armor that reaches to about mid-thigh. It's highly durable and jointed in such a way to allow ample freedom of movement. It too is a burnished white and the footwear is slightly pointed at the ends while having a short heel to give them a ladylike appearance. Background Born into a life of simplicity, Alexis had made her beginings in what one might call the middle class of society. She would grow to call the merchant city Magnolia Town her home. Her parents were merchants, namely her father was a blacksmith in town and her mother was a small time dressmaker. They would squeak out a comfortable living as best as anyone else could manage. Being the only child tended to cause a peculiar phenomenon known as doting. And Alexis would constantly find herself being fussed over by bother of her parents. This would usually also entail a 'take your daughter to work' day almost every day! At least when there wasn't school to worry about. If she had to choose, spending that day at her father's smithy was way more beneficial than spending a day sewing dresses and gossiping. God bless her mothers devoted soul to doing the best job she could though! But making things that could be useful rather than ornamental seemed to 'click' better with the girl. Time slipped by and Alexis' childhood progressed onwards quietly without much hassle. Soon, the well cared for and loved daughter of a smith and dressmaker grew into that of a young lady. A lady who had managed to land herself into 'the wrong crowd', and by that we mean a horrible boyfriend. The kind that your parents can see a mile away, but are to blind to see yourself. All was well and good between Alexis and her troublemaking boyfriend, it was what this fellow did in the background that was reason for concern. Little did the girl know that he was involved with shaking down businesses for 'protection' money with him and his gang of thugs. This and that were kept seperated for a time, under orders from 'the boss' to leave Alexis and her family alone. However, blissfull ignorance would never last... You know how common can be with their lack of memory recall or intelligence. They had been making their rounds that particular day when they had passed by the large building that had a smithy on one side and a jewelry store as its neighbor. Stopping they murmured amongst themselves wondering why this place wasn't on their route. After a few moments they all agreed that now was as good a time as any other to add them to their clientelle for 'protection'.... The whole incident snowballed from what should have been a simple extortion to a tragedy. Trying to extort money out of someone who worked with hot metal and heavy tools all day wasn't the best idea, even if the numbers weren't in his favor.. The shakedown had turned violent and people ended up getting hurt, badly. It was around then that Alexis and her beau were coming back from a date when they happened upon the mortifying scene... The commotion from outside the smithy prompted the pair to rush in to investigate, only to find Alexis' father stuck to the floor on a knee while he clutched a terrible wound to his side. Behind her father, the limp form of her mother was visible.. she wasn't moving and there was blood stains on her. There were also a few crumbled forms on the floor, thugs that were unlucky enough to get caught up in the smith's powerful hands. When the thugs turned to see who had wandered in they saw their boss and called out to him, recanting all the trouble they were having with 'this one'. Horrified by the condition of her father and doubly so when the thugs were consorting with her boyfriend. Tugging frantically at his sleeve for support, Alexis was suddenly thrown aside as the attitude of her boyfriend went from the love of her life to a devil. "Tch, you morons ruined everything! And now she knows to much. We need to get rid of the evidence." his voice was cold as ice as his thugs all cackled with glee, though they did look a bit nervous for ticking him off. Alexis soon found herself grabbed by her hair and yanked to her feet, kicking and screaming for help as her father was in no condition help. "Sorry it has to come to this Lexi... what we had was great, but we can't have any loose ends. You understand, right?" not even giving the girl a chance to reply before planting his fist into the side of her face and sending her reeling in the direction of her father into a pile on the floor. With things turning out as bad as they were, the thugs and their boss had to finish up quick and get the heck out of dodge. Being in a smithy, where there was a source of evidence burning fire... The building was set aflame to burn all the evidence to ash. Before the thugs could make their escape, Alexis' father summoned the last of his strength to get his feet and snatch up the one responsible for all this. With the last of his strength he hoisted up the bastard and stuffed him face first into his forge until the struggling stopped. The last of his strength drained, he stumbled to where his daughter was and did the only thing he could do to try and save her.. throwing wet towels on her unconcious body to try and save her from the flames that were quickly devouring the building. His final act done, he collapsed onto the floor and succumbed to his wounds. In the midst of the fire and all that had happened, Alexis regained conciousness not much longer after her father had smothered her with wet towels. She was in disbelief at what was happening.. the only thing confirming her nightmares was the roaring crackle of the fire around her. She was afraid, devastated and confused. She had just lost everything she had ever loved and was now alone, defenseless. She just wanted her father and mother there to keep her safe again.. someone to save her from this inferno. ...the pile of wet towels began to glow with an aura of magic... Alexis just wanted somebody to save her, to protect her. She didn't want to die here, to die now. An image suddenly surfaced in her mind... an image of a strong shield. A shield her father would make at his forge. ...the aura of magic flared as Lexi's power had awoken... Suddenly surrounding the wet pile of towels was a circle of shields that protected her from the now collapsing building, keeping her from being crushed by flaming timbers. They shielded her until the flames had died out and all that remained were the charred remains of a home and family... Having lost her home, her family and even her first love... Alexis was a shell of her former self. Hollow on the inside and only wanting to protect herself from such loss ever again. Her magic was the physical manifestation of this desire, a magic that could shield her from harm. It would later be named the Adamantine Aegis as she developed her skills, studying under various wandering mages who passed through town. She eventually earned a reputation for ending violent conflicts without even taking a scratch. She still resides within the city of Magnolia Town with hopes of founding her own Guild someday, a guild that shares in her values of protecting those things that are to precious to lose. However there are hurdles in that endeavor... Abilities Adamantine Aegis: A magic that focuses on protecting the wearer from harm and those affected by this magic. It accomplishes this by giving the user magical armor that bolsters their defensive power exponentially. The more skilled the user the more unique the armor can look, which in turn signifies how powerful the defensive ability is compared to lower level armors and shields. Aside from equipping the target with armor, users of the Aegis magic can summon shields of varying size and durability to take the brunt of attacks that might otherwise be to dangerous to just 'tank'. Along with the actual shield, a transparent barrier of magic extends from the shield to protect from other angles as well. However it isn't as strong where the shield isn't covering. With skill however, more than one shield can be made to protect from additional angles. *'Empyrean Aegis: '''The Empyrean Aegis is Alexis' ability to shroud herself within magical armor to amplify her defensive power by substantial amounts. In most cases this entails encasing the user with additional armor or new armor completely. Or can be as simple as a quick and easy magical aura of protection. As the users skill advances with Empyrean Aegis, the armor obtained is stronger and can be more unique than what a novice can manage. *'Adamantine Bastion: 'Adamantine Bastion is Alexis' ability to boost her own defenses even further with additional shielding or to protect allies in the field of battle from harm. This is done by conjuring a massive shield to take the brunt of whatever attack threatens the one being protected. Typically the shield itself is large and forged of an extremely durable metal. It also projects a protective, yet transparent, barrier around the target to give moderate protection from other angles. If it ever happens to be penetrated and broken, the shards splinter harmlessly into the air and vanish. As the users skill advances with Adamantine Bastion, more shields are able to be summoned to provide greater protection from addtional angles. And to be able to be used on more than one target or group at a time. Bonus Content ''Themesong #1: Sweet Nothing I sort of stumbled across this song one day and listened to it a few times, then it started to grow on me. I started listening to it on just repeat and I listened to it. After a while I had listened to this song while reading over Lexi's bg and it sort of just clicked in my mind. The things that are sung in this song feel like they totally match up with how her past was. I even started piecing together a music video in my head that had Lexi's past unfold during the song. It brought a tear to my eye. o_o